Alibaba Group posts profit ahead of potential IPO

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group posted its fourth straight quarterly profit gain ahead of a potential IPO, Bloomberg reported. According to an investor’s presentation on Tuesday from Yahoo (YHOO.NASDAQ), which owns a 24% stake in Alibaba, net income attributable to ordinary shareholders was US$792 million in the three months ended September, up from a loss of US$246 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 51% to US$1.78 billion. The Hangzhou-based company has been valued at as much as USD$190 billion as it considers moving toward the biggest IPO since Facebook.